132
Air Pollution and Turbulence: Modeling and Applications
interpretative tools that are able to extrapolate in space and time the values measured
by analytical instrumentation at fi eld sites, while environmental improvement can
only be obtained by means of a systematic planning of reduction of emissions, and,
therefore, by employing instruments (such as mathematical models of atmospheric
dispersion) capable of linking the causes (sources) of pollution with the respective
effects (pollutant concentrations).
The processes governing the transport and diffusion of pollutants are numerous
and of such complexity that it would be impossible to describe them without the
use of mathematical models. Such models therefore constitute an indispensable
technical instrument of air quality management. Mathematical models are in fact
able to
Describe and interpret experimental data
•
Control air quality in either real or deferred time
•
Monitor accidental emissions and assess risk areas
•
Identify pollutant sources
•
Evaluate the contribution of a single source to pollutant loading
•
Assist in territorial management and planning
•
There exist innumerable, sometimes very diverse, mathematical models of atmospheric pollutant diffusion that may be utilized for the aforementioned purposes. In
fact, the phenomenon of turbulent diffusion in the atmosphere has no single formulation, in the sense that no one approach has yet been proposed that is able to explain
all of the observed phenomena.
5.2 OPERATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
The choice of model is closely linked to the problem being confronted and to the
meteoclimatic and orographic characteristics of the site under consideration.
Available models can be subdivided on the basis of source characteristics:
Point source
•
Linear, area, and volume sources
•
or on the basis of orography:
Flat terrain
•
Complex terrain
•
They can also be classifi ed on the basis of the size of the fi eld they are describing:
Short distance (distance from source less than 30–50 km)
•
Mesoscale models (describing concentration fi elds of the order of hundreds
•
of kilometers)
Continental or planetary circulation models
•
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
Air Pollution and Turbulence: Modeling and Applications
interpretative tools that are able to extrapolate in space and time the values measured
by analytical instrumentation at fi eld sites, while environmental improvement can
only be obtained by means of a systematic planning of reduction of emissions, and,
therefore, by employing instruments (such as mathematical models of atmospheric
dispersion) capable of linking the causes (sources) of pollution with the respective
effects (pollutant concentrations).
The processes governing the transport and diffusion of pollutants are numerous
and of such complexity that it would be impossible to describe them without the
use of mathematical models. Such models therefore constitute an indispensable
technical instrument of air quality management. Mathematical models are in fact
able to
Describe and interpret experimental data
•
Control air quality in either real or deferred time
•
Monitor accidental emissions and assess risk areas
•
Identify pollutant sources
•
Evaluate the contribution of a single source to pollutant loading
•
Assist in territorial management and planning
•
There exist innumerable, sometimes very diverse, mathematical models of atmospheric pollutant diffusion that may be utilized for the aforementioned purposes. In
fact, the phenomenon of turbulent diffusion in the atmosphere has no single formulation, in the sense that no one approach has yet been proposed that is able to explain
all of the observed phenomena.
5.2 OPERATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
The choice of model is closely linked to the problem being confronted and to the
meteoclimatic and orographic characteristics of the site under consideration.
Available models can be subdivided on the basis of source characteristics:
Point source
•
Linear, area, and volume sources
•
or on the basis of orography:
Flat terrain
•
Complex terrain
•
They can also be classifi ed on the basis of the size of the fi eld they are describing:
Short distance (distance from source less than 30–50 km)
•
Mesoscale models (describing concentration fi elds of the order of hundreds
•
of kilometers)
Continental or planetary circulation models
•
© 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC